Whether you trying to decide to buy an old home or a new home, be sure to test your drinking water where you choose to live. And if you live in an area that has been flooded, or if you have well water at your home, it's especially important to test the water.

This is a very topical and growing concern: the safety of US tap water. Whether city or well, it's quite possible the water you're consuming at home is contaminated with cancer-causing or otherwise harmful materials such as heavy metals, pesticides, arsenic, bacteria, nitrates and volatile organic compounds. Ingesting such chemicals regularly could shorten your life span, so it goes without saying testing your water could be the single most important step you take to protect your health.

A reputable choice for accurate and easy testing is EnviroTestKits (www.envirotestkits.com) from Environmental Laboratories, an industry authority for more than 40 years and one of North America’s largest EPA Certified Laboratories for testing drinking water. Choose from different test options, based on type and number of contaminants.

In three easy steps (collect, ship, view results online) you'll know if there's a problem and be empowered to take appropriate action. Results are ready within seven to 10 days, and each kit includes free return shipping.

Why should all homeowners and renters take this issue seriously? A simple search online pulls up pages of pretty alarming data, and here's a mere sampling to help shed light:

•Certain types of cancer — such as breast and prostate — have risen over the past 30 years, and research indicates they are likely tied to pollutants like those found in drinking water.

•The E.P.A. has reported that more than three million Americans have been exposed since 2005 to drinking water with illegal concentrations of arsenic and radioactive elements, both of which have been linked to cancer at small doses.

•In some areas tested, the amount of radium detected in drinking water was 2,000 percent higher than the legal limit, according to E.P.A. data.

•Data CNBC obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency for a recent report revealed that only nine U.S. states are reporting safe levels of lead in their water supply.

•In a 2009 report, the EPA warned that "threats to drinking water are increasing."

•In 2015, nearly 77 million Americans lived in places where the water systems were in some violation of safety regulations, per the Safe Drinking Water Act, according to a 2017 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

It's ironic - people are diligent about checking the oil in their car, but so many have never checked how clean their drinking water is. With the convenience of EnviroTestKits, today there's no good reason not to find out what might be lurking.